tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post8614587234171549788..comments2024-03-29T06:22:47.638-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: Toward a transparent (and safer, tolerant and more free) worldDavid Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-629476459156205692018-10-14T22:36:59.043-07:002018-10-14T22:36:59.043-07:00David Brin thought:
"obvious that he doesn&...<br />David Brin thought: <br /><br />"obvious that he doesn't care to read or grasp what's being said to him"<br /><br />It reads. I've told you before, locumranch is not just being cantankerous, it's being contrarian simply because of the name of your blog.yananoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-6201787060297096242018-10-13T17:48:10.189-07:002018-10-13T17:48:10.189-07:00It's reached the boring point again, where it ...It's reached the boring point again, where it becomes obvious that he doesn't care to read or grasp what's being said to him, anymore, nor how many times he is dared to answer simple questions. The howls of an animal in pain.<br /><br />onward<br /><br />onward<br /><br />David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-14714497527721321182018-10-13T11:21:10.487-07:002018-10-13T11:21:10.487-07:00CNN resorts to Chicken Littleism to describe Hurri...<br />CNN resorts to Chicken Littleism to describe Hurricane Michael: <br /><br /><b>"Survivors scramble for food and water...,"</b> it says, obfuscating the fact that almost everyone survived this storm except for '17 confirmed casualties' which is statistically irrelevant as this death count is actually LOWER than the routinely anticipated traffic deaths that usually occur in the same location over the same time period. <br /><br />Of course, significant property damage has occurred -- much 'worse' than previous storms that have impacted the same area in the past -- which in no way proves that this is a 'worse' storm because (in the past) there was much much LESS developed property in this area that could be adversely affected by any storm.<br /><br />Thus, we are left with a FAKE NEWS story about a real storm & real storm-related hardship, but (just to be thorough) let's unleash the fake news kracken in order to blame Climate Change (which, as you know, is NOT responsible for a 30 year construction boom in storm vulnerable locales).<br /><br />Some much for truth in transparency.<br /><br /><br />Bestlocumranchnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-18349836787129974402018-10-13T09:09:31.406-07:002018-10-13T09:09:31.406-07:00As in the case of Mutually Assured Destruction, th...<br />As in the case of Mutually Assured Destruction, the production of 'more nukes' led to desensitisation and (eventually) to nuclear disarmament, attendant on the realisation that the threat of being killed one thousand times over is no more frightening than being killed a mere half-dozen times.<br /><br />And, so it is in the case of Mutually Assured Transparency, as the production of 'more transparency' inevitably leads to desensitising yawn-inducing boredom, along with the realisation that pretty much every individual capable of 'compromise' has somehow compromised themselves at one time or another.<br /><br />In fact, this has already happened, as evidenced by the public's response (election & re-election) to Berlusconi's 'Bunga Bunga' parties & Trump's 'pussy-grabbing'.<br /><br />Pretty much nobody cares anymore as once-shocking allegations about behaviours like Al Franken's and Brett Kavanaugh's 'booby-grabbing' have become so commonplace as to become meaningless.<br /><br />And, like an Opioid addiction, it now takes unprecedented levels of transparency to generate an ever-decreasing level of transparency-related outrage, triggering the Media's descent into Chicken Littleism wherein every athletic event, storm, outcome or outrage must be described with superlative terms like 'biggest', 'worst' or 'apocalyptic', leading to diminishing returns & public disengagement.<br /><br />This just in: Individuals with power & authority tend to abuse their power & authority; western women are enraged; and water is wet.<br /><br />Nobody gives a poop anymore.<br /><br /><br />Bestlocumranchnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-64420442322341382642018-10-13T06:55:31.529-07:002018-10-13T06:55:31.529-07:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Erik Welsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10137878540356741332noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-38918429617149460932018-10-12T23:48:03.356-07:002018-10-12T23:48:03.356-07:00locumranch thought:
"fractured society"...<br /> locumranch thought:<br /><br />"fractured society" and "Civil War II"<br /><br />Because this is what the wrack of guilt does, to a mind desperate to believe that everyone is as wicked as itself, the salve of rationalization, and a hope for a future of violence, where its own failures will be pleasantly lost in a general purge of bad faith.<br /><br /> locumranch thought:<br /><br />"we need to believe in universal human decency & fellowship if we wish to believe the big lies like Love & Mercy."<br /><br />If a tortured mind knows it has done terrible things, it can not believe in anything until it covers the wounds with thick chitinous scar tissue. But that's not far enough. It also must maintain scorn for others, specially ones who appear to maybe not have been as wicked.<br /><br />I give two merits for the elder woman who shooed me ahead of her in the checkout line today. One merit for her selfless act of consideration, the second one for the true smile when i thanked her again on my way out. I don't give the merits to her, but to the whole of human culture.<br /><br />The sun will rise tomorrow, and there is no escaping the onslaught of rampant transparency coming soon. You can't put baby back in the corner. Luckily, because we are social monkeys, ubiquitous surveillance will record far more acts of kindness than acts which are... "prejudiced, flawed, deceitful, spiteful. hypocritical, self-serving"<br /><br />The only refuge then, for the tortured mind, will be a haughty proclamation that "kind" acts rose 2.6 % after everyone started recording everything. So it's obviously all an act and surely, everyone else is just as wicked deep down, just as guilty of 'something' certainly.<br /><br />Thus, good news. locumranch is not a threat to national security nor domestic tranquility. Now we know, despite the froth, that locumranch desires redemption. If society should fracture or there's a CW2, then most ilks get redemption by default, many slates cleaned. That's the easy way, the intellectually lazy path to redemption, id ac deus ex machina salvatandum.<br /><br />The hard way is girding the self against living the 'unexamined life' for more than a day or two at a time. At first, the wracked self recoils. But, with babysteps backwards, even someone who has done terrible things can rejoin the normal people, learn (relearn?) how to do mercy, can begin to grasp why real charity is anonymous, and might even dip a toe into love.yananoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-52759443332990601522018-10-12T23:41:05.361-07:002018-10-12T23:41:05.361-07:00A.F. Rey thought:
"Advertisers have to compl...<br /> A.F. Rey thought:<br /><br />"Advertisers have to comply with the truth-in-advertising statues. Why not expand the laws to apply them to politicians?"<br /><br />Good the intention, but it was obvious so it's already been done. That's why we have politicospeak, and why we can't get politicians to answer a single simple straight question, like ever.yananoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-75580776773669609802018-10-12T14:31:17.499-07:002018-10-12T14:31:17.499-07:00Here's an idea.
Advertisers have to comply wi...Here's an idea.<br /><br />Advertisers have to comply with the truth-in-advertising statues.<br /><br />Why not expand the laws to apply them to politicians?<br /><br />Couldn't hurt (especially in this political climate)... :)A.F. Reyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08102355714883828348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-20396617595273721602018-10-12T14:17:43.781-07:002018-10-12T14:17:43.781-07:00There is something we should do. For instance, iif...There is something we should do. For instance, iif I were advising a political campaign, my commercials would feature split screens. It would be a day to day timed stamped vlog/journal. On the left, found footage of my opposition x, (or animated courtroom sketch art with narration. For late night bathroom tweets etc.) Simultaneously, on the right portion of the screen my candidate, y going about their day to day. Subtitles might run stats such as tax payer money spent or money spent etc. As long as Y walks the walk, you have a persuasive arguement. Another tactic also using found footage and the split screen would just contrast your opposition with Mildred the plumber or Locum the physician. I would totally use stereotypes and make fun of the hypocrisy of my own base, too and would show texting Susie and fortnight Bob taking naps during their college classes because truth resonates with people. So use it. Duh.Slim Moldiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04804029818709230857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-87781287702753250112018-10-12T13:40:55.745-07:002018-10-12T13:40:55.745-07:00Gawd it never ends. He knows that he does not unde...Gawd it never ends. He knows that he does not understand positive sum minds. So, does he try harder to understand us? Even as foes? No, all he can do is repeat the same howls:<br /><br />"Do they offer good faith in return bad?Of course not. They distrust, punish, imprison or exterminate them !!<br /><br />Um... no? That is what you have repeatedly made clear you will do to us, if you get the chance. You declare it is the only outcome conceivable to you!<br /><br />But that is not how reciprocal accountability can and has worked, brilliantly, in science, democracy, markets, etc. The example of sports is a spectacularly simple and perfect refutation. By this point, you are only demonstrating to us, again and again, that humanity includes types who are congenitally unable to grasp the possibility of other kinds of humans and who are terrified by the gaps in their percepts.<br /><br />"So you're saying there's something he should do?" Alas, we have asked for him to stick his neck out and prescribe his program. He never has and never will.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-30945909477009051342018-10-12T11:50:13.998-07:002018-10-12T11:50:13.998-07:00locumranch:
David needs to understand ...
So yo...locumranch:<br /><i><br />David needs to understand ...<br /></i><br /><br />So you're saying there's something he <b>should</b> do?<br /><br />Just checking.Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-84364774331152462702018-10-12T10:12:36.745-07:002018-10-12T10:12:36.745-07:00The parallel between MAD & MAT is lost upon mo...<br />The parallel between MAD & MAT is lost upon most of you:<br /><br />In the case of the Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) theory of nuclear deterrence, more & more nuclear proliferation quickly revealed itself as an INSANITY that virtually guaranteed the destruction of both nuclear antagonist & protagonist, leading to the worldwide adoption of well-reasoned nuclear disarmament & reduction treaties.<br /><br />In the case of the Mutual Assured Transparency (MAT) theory of political deterrence, transparency advocates like David demand ever-increasing amounts of transparency (moar moar) even though its relentless proliferation virtually guarantees the political destruction of both antagonist & protagonist.<br /><br />Do people coexist with the known backstabber? Do they negotiate with the proven liar? Do they trust & believe the confirmed dissembler? Do they offer good faith in return bad?<br /><br />Of course not. <br /><br />They distrust, punish, imprison or exterminate them !!<br /><br />Taken to an extreme, transparency only proves that damn near everyone is a prejudiced, flawed, deceitful, spiteful. hypocritical, self-serving HUMAN interested only in their hierarchy of needs & the accoutrements of power.<br /><br />David needs to understand that we desperately need LESS transparency if he actually wishes to restore our increasingly fractured society and avoid Civil War II because (howsoever falsely) we need to believe in universal human decency & fellowship if we wish to believe the big lies like Love & Mercy.<br /><br />Said the deplorable to commiebastard.<br /><br /><br />Bestlocumranchnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-90567197010138614392018-10-12T09:59:11.804-07:002018-10-12T09:59:11.804-07:00matthew:
My take is that MBS got pissed at Khasho...matthew:<br /><i><br />My take is that MBS got pissed at Khashoggi and decided that Trump wouldn't retaliate if MBS was blatant. <br /></i><br /><br />Jeez, now that there's another reason to despise the current administration, is that one more example of liberals "moving the goalposts"?Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-36054518886363722872018-10-12T09:38:23.498-07:002018-10-12T09:38:23.498-07:00 “Put simply, the duration and effectiveness of an... “Put simply, the duration and effectiveness of any conspiracy is inversely related to the number of people involved.”<br /><br />It depends upon the situation. In a tyranny, the anti-government conspiracy must be small because of informers, but the pro-government conspiracy can be huge, as we see in the unlimited scope of Russian war efforts against the West. In a truly free and open society, it is hard to hire henchmen for something dastardly because one of them may blow the whistle. That is why blackmail is the best system for mafiosi and oligarchs. Keep each blackmail victim isolated, thinking he’s alone and helpless.<br />David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-76681894534215075962018-10-12T09:10:58.045-07:002018-10-12T09:10:58.045-07:00Donzelion, if you are able to comment on the ramif...Donzelion, if you are able to comment on the ramifications of the murder of Khashoggi, I'd love to hear your take on what is happening. I understand that sometimes you cannot comment on Saudi politics, though. <br /><br />My take is that MBS got pissed at Khashoggi and decided that Trump wouldn't retaliate if MBS was blatant. The tapes that the Turks allege they have of the murder reportedly have a good deal of torture before the killing. My guess is questions regarding Khashoggi's sources inside of Saudi Arabia.<br /><br />Oh, if you don't know what I'm talking bout then here is a good primer - <br />https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/12/middleeast/khashoggi-saudi-turkey-recordings-intl/index.htmlmatthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17757867868731829206noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-73528595666851670992018-10-12T09:10:12.315-07:002018-10-12T09:10:12.315-07:00Who would have thought, three years ago, that we w...Who would have thought, three years ago, that we would have a black entertainer meeting with the president in the oval office and arguing for the repeal of the 13th amendment? <br />Trump has hit the trifecta of crazy: Sarah Palin, Ted Nugent, and now Kayne West. A pity Charlie Manson is dead: he could have visited and argued for lowering the age of consent to six.Zepp Jamiesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16261339498383415026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-72339228423040251532018-10-12T09:05:37.510-07:002018-10-12T09:05:37.510-07:00Kanye is just feeding off of the Trump reality sho...Kanye is just feeding off of the Trump reality show - He has a new (not great) album out and needs the publicity. Trump likes having a black popular entertainer fluff him. It's that simple. <br /><br />Sideshow. <br /><br />Distraction from real events. matthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17757867868731829206noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-14706368299567375762018-10-12T06:44:21.802-07:002018-10-12T06:44:21.802-07:00I have no dog in the fight over whether to like Ka...I have no dog in the fight over whether to like Kanye West or not, but some of the crap he mouths seems so ridiculously egregious that I have to wonder if he pulled the short straw and is implementing Dr Brin's strategy of sucking up to Trump in order to have his ear and influence him in ways that arguments about issues from lib-ruls just won't ever achieve.<br />Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-80105904385776013412018-10-12T06:37:03.685-07:002018-10-12T06:37:03.685-07:00Here's the link to that article above:
https:/...Here's the link to that article above:<br />https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/12/opinion/stacey-abrams-kemp-georgia-voters.htmlLarry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-77286991104511862562018-10-12T06:36:16.350-07:002018-10-12T06:36:16.350-07:00Cheating begets power, which begets more cheating,...Cheating begets power, which begets more cheating, etc. Are we nearing or past the point where small-d democratic remedies to unpopular policies and officeholders are not viable precisely <b>because</b> the party in power is allowed to disenfranchise opposition? If so, then in the words of <i>Hamilton</i>'s King George III, "What's next?"<br /><br /><i><br />...<br />On Thursday, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law filed a lawsuit against [Georgia Secretary of Stage who is also running for Governor] Kemp on behalf of a coalition of Georgia civil rights groups seeking an immediate end to the “exact match” program. Kristen Clarke, the group’s president and executive director, told me that were the Voting Rights Law still intact, the program would have never been adopted.<br /><br />“None of these schemes or tactics or new policies would have passed the smell test,” she said, adding, “What we are seeing in Georgia is the clearest evidence that states in the South that were subject to the Voting Rights Act are moving quickly to turn the clock back in ways that harm minority voters.”<br /><br />That will make it easier for Republicans to keep getting elected in these states. Once in office, they will help to put more conservative judges on the federal bench, who will make it harder still for Democrats to vote. The never-Trump conservative David Frum has written: “If conservatives become convinced that they cannot win democratically, they will not abandon conservatism. They will reject democracy.” In Georgia, they already have.<br /></i>Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-68294834479320052032018-10-12T00:22:05.538-07:002018-10-12T00:22:05.538-07:00Just from where we were to where we are, a couple ...<br />Just from where we were to where we are, a couple things are likely coming. Instead of snapping 2 flat images and generating a 3D for facial recog, teensy sub-IR pulses collect real 3D data from a whole area at a time. First, for facial recog, then software will start asking questions, like "is that person's backpack outsized from her normal daily range of backpack sizes?"<br /><br />Next thing coming is Google Glass. But not eyewear. A bluetooth earpiece which many people have, but now with a camera. A hat with a camera, a brooch, necklace, earring, the jauntily turned-down collar of a sweater. I don't think we'll ever be able to fight the onslaught of transparency. What locumranch thinks Dr. B has shocklingly converted to, just yesterday, is simply inevitable. Cheering for or against it is like taking bets on whether or not the sun comes up tomorrow.<br /><br />Block-chain verification of media files won't solve anything. If someone's going to concoct a hoax, they'll do it secret, in isolation de rigueur. They'd use only sources personally collected or from a neat cabal. The fraud would be first in its chain, giving cover to the goofs who fall for it. This only has to happen a few times, for the scheme to be abandoned.<br /><br />Here's the kicker, it's something few people know about. Not one of the classic logical fallacies, but something that smart folks fall into, all the same. Sun and Machiavelli knew it, there is a Conspiracy Coefficient. Politics, business, war, all the same. <br /><br />Put simply, the duration and effectiveness of any conspiracy is inversely related to the number of people involved.<br /><br />Duration and effectiveness of any conspiracy is directly related to risk/return, and directly related to each link's ability to lie comfortably.<br /><br />But the primary determinant of any conspiracy's success is the number of people involved.<br /><br />This principle will survive the 3rd communication revolution.<br /><br />Anyone who calls for a truce in transparency, who thinks people are better off M'ing their OB, that's a set of blinders. We are monkeys. We can't mind only our own business. Thus, there is a Conspiracy Coefficient.yananoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-49485302951718252432018-10-11T17:47:07.201-07:002018-10-11T17:47:07.201-07:00BTW: "a shameless adaption of the Mutually As...BTW: "a shameless adaption of the Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) theory of nuclear deterrence."<br /><br />No, it is application of reciprocal accountability, which is THE core discovery of the Modern Enlightenment, from which everything we have arises out of Markets, Democracy, Science, Courts and Sports. All of which the enlightenment's enemies are desperately seeking to corrupt.<br /><br />David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-43805467217932473192018-10-11T15:51:08.460-07:002018-10-11T15:51:08.460-07:00Me too. Shrugging aside his inane - even psychotic...Me too. Shrugging aside his inane - even psychotic - use of "finally admitting" , locum actually strings points together better than usual and must be on his vitamins. Yes, Mutually Assured Transparency can lead to a truce... that is exactly what I've been saying for decades. "Trust but verify," as Reagan said. The truce would be social... exactly as I described in this posting, if poor L ever could actually read without the fog of rage getting in the way.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-87837141587073319302018-10-11T15:26:58.478-07:002018-10-11T15:26:58.478-07:00I agree. Locumranch's attempt to paraphrase wa...I agree. Locumranch's attempt to paraphrase was actually pretty good... up until he confused 'cease fire' with the Luddite approach of depopulating the battle field as a DMZ. MAD is indeed the risk, but a cease fire would involve us choosing not to act directly on what we know. Indirect action might still happen, but that would be more defensive.Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-40171672009983849002018-10-11T15:20:28.326-07:002018-10-11T15:20:28.326-07:00I suspect locum thought David was using the work &...I suspect locum thought David was using the work "pernicious" in the positive sense. ;)<br /><br />But disregarding the first sentence and the post script, I think locum actually summarized David's position nicely, that MAT is the only way to convince people to leave each other alone, harking back to the wise man who said, "Let he who has not sinned throw the first stone" (while hefting a huge rock in his own hand and staring at the crowd). :) A.F. Reyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08102355714883828348noreply@blogger.com